The Record: Trusting teachers

The Record

Random drug testing for faculty is mistake

Ryan Fogarty, a Cliffside Park teacher, was arrested on drug charges.

PARENTS IN Cliffside Park are right to be concerned after the arrest of a teacher on drug charges and suspension and leave of absence for two other faculty members. But calling for random drug testing for all the district's staff is a clear overreaction.

It is unfair to make the presumption that everyone is guilty until proven otherwise. That is what random drug testing of teachers would bring to the district, which goes against the principles of our Constitution.

Angry parents learned at a recent meeting with the school board that there is no law requiring random testing for teachers, although there is one for bus drivers. We understand the need to periodically screen the employees who operate vehicles. They are directly responsible for the safe transportation of students, but this is not the case with teachers in classrooms.

As we argued against the Northern Valley Regional High School proposal to randomly test students for drugs, the entire Cliffside Park faculty should not be subjected to that, either. When there is suspicion of a certain staffer or student being under the influence of drugs, then testing should be enforced to protect that individual and the rest of the school community.

As The Record has been reporting, heroin and other drug use is a growing problem in North Jersey. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office reported that 27 Bergen County residents died of heroin overdose in 2013 with approximately 13 so far this year.

Cliffside Park school officials should be concerned by recent events and make efforts to reassure parents that this isn't a wide-spread issue in the district. But we must be careful that we don't compromise people's civil liberties in an effort to combat what may have actually been a very isolated issue.

Parents also suggested the district install surveillance cameras in the school. Security cameras are often an effective measure for keeping facilities safe. However, it's questionable if that would have made a difference in this instance, as Cliffside Park officials found a syringe in a bathroom during the investigation.

If the district now places surveillance cameras in school bathrooms that would rightly cause an uproar from parents protesting the invasion of their children's privacy.

Teachers are licensed professionals who undergo background checks before beginning employment. There is a certain amount of trust that we have to have in the people we hire.

The recent incidents can understandably weaken the trust some parents may have. But the answer is not to cast every teacher as a possible drug addict.

The Record: Trusting teachers

PARENTS IN Cliffside Park are right to be concerned after the arrest of a teacher on drug charges and suspension and leave of absence for two other faculty members. But calling for random drug testing for all the district's staff is a clear overreaction.

It is unfair to make the presumption that everyone is guilty until proven otherwise. That is what random drug testing of teachers would bring to the district, which goes against the principles of our Constitution.

Angry parents learned at a recent meeting with the school board that there is no law requiring random testing for teachers, although there is one for bus drivers. We understand the need to periodically screen the employees who operate vehicles. They are directly responsible for the safe transportation of students, but this is not the case with teachers in classrooms.

As we argued against the Northern Valley Regional High School proposal to randomly test students for drugs, the entire Cliffside Park faculty should not be subjected to that, either. When there is suspicion of a certain staffer or student being under the influence of drugs, then testing should be enforced to protect that individual and the rest of the school community.

As The Record has been reporting, heroin and other drug use is a growing problem in North Jersey. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office reported that 27 Bergen County residents died of heroin overdose in 2013 with approximately 13 so far this year.

Cliffside Park school officials should be concerned by recent events and make efforts to reassure parents that this isn't a wide-spread issue in the district. But we must be careful that we don't compromise people's civil liberties in an effort to combat what may have actually been a very isolated issue.

Parents also suggested the district install surveillance cameras in the school. Security cameras are often an effective measure for keeping facilities safe. However, it's questionable if that would have made a difference in this instance, as Cliffside Park officials found a syringe in a bathroom during the investigation.

If the district now places surveillance cameras in school bathrooms that would rightly cause an uproar from parents protesting the invasion of their children's privacy.

Teachers are licensed professionals who undergo background checks before beginning employment. There is a certain amount of trust that we have to have in the people we hire.

The recent incidents can understandably weaken the trust some parents may have. But the answer is not to cast every teacher as a possible drug addict.